Wright Center hosting series of town halls for VSU undergrads
The Wright Center is co-hosting a series of virtual town halls with Virginia State University this summer, bringing Virginia Commonwealth University physician-scientists to undergraduate students interested in pursuing careers in medicine and research.
Robert Winn, M.D., director of VCU Massey Cancer Center and a Wright Center faculty member, kicked things off on Friday, speaking to a group of 15 students and recent graduates from the historically Black college outside of Petersburg, Va.
Wright Center’s KL2 Program co-director, Patrick Nana-Sinkam, M.D., introduced Winn as a triple threat, excelling in scholarship, as a clinician and as an educator.
Students introduced themselves and asked questions about career paths, applying for medical school and pursuing academic careers. Winn encouraged students to frame their goals around the change they wish to see in the world.
“What are you going to do once you get there?” he said. “What’s the problem you’re trying to solve as a doctor? Because that will help you out with your framework.”
Winn spoke to the students about his own background. He encouraged the young attendees to silence voices of doubt and not to let setbacks keep them from their goals. He emphasized the importance of giving back to their communities. And he framed the students’ ambitions in the context of an unprecedented year – health disparities exposed by the pandemic and the institutionalized, unequal treatment of African Americans.
“We’ve got work to do,” Winn said of society generally. “Playtime is over.”
The series will continue with another Wright Center faculty member, Vanessa Sheppard, Ph.D., chair and professor in the Department of Health Behavior and Policy, and Lydia Johnson, M.D., chair and associate professor in the Department of Dermatology, beings guests of honor at town halls in July and August.
Like Winn, Sheppard is a leader and research member at Massey Cancer Center, where Nana-Sinkam, chair and professor in the Division of Pulmonary Disease and Critical Care Medicine, also conducts some of his research.
Nana-Sinkam, Wright Center Director F. Gerard Moeller, M.D., and eight other faculty will also provide eight weeks of virtual mentoring sessions to ten VSU pre-medicine and science students as part of the summer program.
The informal conversations and mentoring will directly connect the physician-scientists of the future with local leaders in the field.
If other faculty members are interested in being involved as speakers or mentors, contact Roberto DiRenzo, M.S., faculty development manager at the Wright Center.
Categories Health Equity, Mentorship